


Reunited

by youllneverwalkalone8



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-14
Updated: 2013-08-14
Packaged: 2017-12-23 11:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/925801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youllneverwalkalone8/pseuds/youllneverwalkalone8
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Xabi comes back to Liverpool and some unresolved feelings finally get resolved</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reunited

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Gerlonso day!  
> Beta'd by meowco-reus on tumblr (thank you so much!)

Stevie was nervous to say the least; it had been 4 years since he had been near Xabi for any amount of time. What if they didn’t get along anymore? What if what they had before was gone? What if all that was left was an empty shell, completely hollowed from the distance that had been put between them?

            When Xabi had first left, they had tried to stay in touch. That had stopped quickly though when Stevie had realised that it hurt too much. Instead, he hung onto the good memories. Istanbul, and all the other things they had done together. They hadn’t agreed to stop talking, it had just happened. One day Xabi phoned Stevie and he didn’t pick up. That had been the end of that; the day when Stevie realised he needed to stop wallowing in his sorrow and move on.

            It was with that in mind that Stevie stood anxiously at the airport, not knowing what to expect. Rodgers had asked Stevie to meet Xabi at the airport, with prior knowledge that they had been the best of friends at Liverpool. He had said something about the fact that Stevie would be one of few familiar faces, but Stevie wasn’t sure exactly what it was, he had tuned it all out.

Before that day he hadn’t been ashamed of the fact that sometimes, when he missed Xabi just a bit too much, he cried, but standing in the airport, waiting for a ghost from his past, he started to feel like an idiot.

            An anxious, bittersweet smile crossed his face when he noticed the familiar Basque, ginger beard and all walking through the crowd towards him. Xabi had a lazy smile on his face, obviously happy to be back in Liverpool. But Stevie couldn’t help but wonder whether he was any part of the reason for that smile or not. It had been 4 long years, people move on in that time.

            As soon as Xabi spotted Stevie he waved and walked over, his pace picking up slightly. Stevie noticed that, he had always noticed the small things when it came to Xabi. It was just the way they worked; they were so finely tuned to each other that everything about them stood out. Once Xabi reached Stevie, he let go of his suitcase and pulled him in for a tight hug.

            “I missed you, hombre.” Xabi grinned as he pulled away from the hug, slapping Stevie’s back gently.

            “I missed you too.” Stevie smiled, slightly warmly, though there was still a slight awkwardness in the air.

            “You reckon we can make Istanbul happen again?” Xabi asked with a lopsided grin as he picked up his suitcase again.

            “Hopefully without the stress, we’re getting too old for that.” Stevie smiled, relaxing a bit more as they walked to his car.

            Xabi chuckled slightly and nodded. “You may have a point there.”

            To be honest, Stevie was relieved; it wasn’t too awkward between the two of them. In fact, it was almost like they hadn’t ever been apart. There wasn’t any of the resent he thought there might have been from him never phoning Xabi back. Instead they were just as they had always been: absolutely comfortable with each other. It was like Xabi had never left, like he had never switched the red jersey for the white jersey.

            They got in the car and drove in silence. Not the awkward silence that Stevie had anticipated but a comfortable silence, the type of silence they had enjoyed before Xabi had left. Stevie drove to the address that Rodgers had sent him, a hotel for Xabi to stay at while he was house hunting. He pulled into a parking spot near the hotel and turned off the engine.

            “Well here ya are.” He smiled, leaning back in his seat.

            Xabi paused for a moment before looking over at Stevie. “We should go get drinks later, catch up a bit.”

            Stevie smiled slightly and nodded. “Yeah…we should.”

 

That was how, two hours later, Xabi found himself at a pub, waiting for Stevie. Despite the fact that he hadn’t been to the pub for 4 years, it still seemed the exact same. The atmosphere was still perfect, the music good and the beer great. He had already had a pint by the time Stevie arrived. He waved at Stevie and smiled warmly as the Scouser walked over to him. He had missed Stevie when he was with Real. He hadn’t admitted it to anyone, but he had been gutted when Stevie had stopped returning his phone calls. It had hurt, but he had tried to move on. And by tried, he meant failed. Every night he had fallen asleep thinking about Liverpool, the best 5 years of his life. Istanbul haunted his dreams, bittersweet memories of the best night of his life, a memory he shared with his best friend in the universe. The one person he trusted with anything. Somewhere along the lines, his best friend had morphed into something bigger in his heart, something more important. His best friend went from being just that, to being someone he needed. When Xabi had been approached with a serious offer from Liverpool he had jumped on the opportunity. Not because of the city he was going to, sure he adored Liverpool, but it wasn’t the most important factor. He had wanted, no, he had needed to see Stevie again, to be able to become that dangerous midfield duo again, to be able to have the most important person in his life back.

            He ordered himself another pint and also got one for Stevie, nudging it over to him when it got set on the bar. “I missed you, I really did.” he mumbled.

            Stevie could barely understand Xabi through the Basque’s thick accent but he got the message. “I missed you too, it wasn’t the same without you.”

            Xabi sighed slightly and took a sip of his pint. He was toying with the idea of telling Stevie how he felt. It seemed too risky though, and the more he thought about it, the stupider it seemed. That was his problem: thinking. Every time he had had an opportunity to tell Stevie he had thought too much and pushed away the opportunity. He wasn’t going to let that happen again though. “Hey erm…can I tell you something?”

            Stevie turned to look at Xabi and nodded slightly. “’Course ya can.”

            Xabi took a deep breath, trying to combat his nerves. Damn it, why was he acting like a teenage girl? “I like you.” he finally blurted out.

            Stevie furrowed his brow, in the way that he always did when he got information he didn’t expect. “Well ‘course ya do, we’re best friends.” He spoke slowly, trying to figure out what Xabi had meant.

            “No! Not like that! I _like_ like you.” There he was again, sounding like a goddamn teenage girl.

            “Wait, you mean like—“ Stevie was cut off when Xabi, in a fit of pure frustration at the Scouser’s confusion, pulled him in for a kiss. They pulled apart after a few moments and Xabi immediately noticed the goofy, slightly lopsided and completely endearing grin on Stevie’s face. “So ya do mean like that.” He was still grinning like an idiot. “’Cause ya know, I _like_ like you too.”

 


End file.
